Consortia collaborations offer a fast and efficient way to develop methods and scientific understanding in principal areas of research. This survey, conducted with the support of the Safety Pharmacology Society, had several objectives: to identify ongoing consortia projects probing areas in the field of safety pharmacology, and to make available to the SPS’s members, information about these programs.

Lessons learned, in terms of managing and contributing in such projects will be presented. The potential role of the SPS as a facilitator of such projects will also be explored.

This will hopefully kick off a discussion about the value of collaborative programs and their potential benefits to the participants.

A survey was e-mailed to members of the SPS. Responseswere collected online. 14 projects involving more than 30 companies were identified. The projects covered the areas of drug-induced pro-arrhythmia (4), drug-induced cardiotoxicity (2), drug dependence and abuse liability (2), cardiovascular genomics (1), study of human ion channels (1), comparative biology and scaling of results across different species (1), and zebra fish as a pre-clinical model (1).

The SPS is in a unique position to take the lead by collecting and disseminating information about consortia projects (both completed and in-progress) and identifying new areas where further research is needed. Creation of Special Working Groups around specific topics under the auspices of the SPS could serve to facilitate consortia projects to the benefit of patients, safety pharmacologists, the society, and regulatory bodies alike.